Portable altar construction



S p 1950 E. 1. COHEN 2,522,210

PORTABLE ALTAR QONSTRUCTION Filed June 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet l III" Mnun ul l l lllllll l .1

U JF

IN VENTGR. EMAA/t/EL 1. C'OHEA/ y j w .Sept. 12, 1950 E. l. COHENPORTABLE ALTAR CONSTRUCTION Filed June 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 514 421: C HE'A/ BY I N VEN TOR.

Sept. 12, 1950 E. COHEN 2,522,210

PORTABLE ALTAR CONSTRUCTION Filed June 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR. EMZM/EL 1T ('OHE/l/ Sept. 12, 1950 E. l. COHEN PORTABLE ALTARCONSTRUCTION Filed June 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Illill umm IN VEN TOR.

FMA/WA-ZZE/V BY 2 2 Sept. 12, 1950 1. COHEN 2,522,210

PORTABLE ALTAR CONSTRUCTION Filed June 9, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTOR.

fM/m/ 1. 1. ('OHE/V BY 2 M Patented Sept. 12 1950 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 5 "f2,522,2if

PORTABLE ALTAR ooNs'rnUoTIoN Emanuel I. Cohen, Philadelphia, Pa.Application June-9,1947,Seria1No.753,563 J 2 Claims. (01."312-33i 1 Thisinvention relates to an altar construction and more particularly to aportable, foldable and collapsible altar. Among the general objects ofthe invention are to provide such a device which is light in weight andcompact in form so as to be readily portable, erectable and disassembledby one man. To this end the altar is made as a single unit, the severalparts thereof being secured together, all being Within the reach andcontrol of a man for erection or disassembly, either of which may becompletely accomplished with a few swift, easy movements. Such an altaris desirable among roving missionaries, in churches and in the militaryandnaval forces. A primary consideration among these services are thefeatures of portability, including lightness and compactness, so thatsuch an altar can be quickly erected for services in the field or on aship, and as quickly dismantled and packed away or moved to one side, asthe occasion or the dictates of necessity may require.

An additional object is to provide an altar which will be acceptable tothe followers of different faiths and in furtherance of this object thealtar.

is provided with afront panel wherein a cross is removably secured sothat it may be quickly removed for the substitution of a star of David,or other emblem of a different religious faith.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an altar having atable and a collapsible retable thereon.

Another object is to provide such an altar having a front and side wallsand table, the sidewalls and table being pivoted to the front in such amanner as to be collapsible with respect to said front when the deviceis not in use.

Another object is to provide a retable for such an altar in which saidretable is collapsible soas to lie substantially parallel to said tableand on the undersurface thereof when not in use and to be erectable as aledge on said table when the altar is setup for worship.

A further object is to provide a retable which is pivoted to a free edgeof the table proper, said retable comprising front, rear and topsections and end walls, all hingedly connected together, the end wallsbeing hinged to the central or top section, said sections havingfastening means cooperating with corresponding means on said end wallsfor locking said sections together when they are erected on said table.

For the accomplishment of these and such other objects as may hereafterappear, the invention is e 2 and is illustrated in a preferredembodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which:

v Figure 1. is a perspective view of the erected altar.

Figure 2 isa rear view thereof, with the table in raised positiomshowingthe means for securing the several. parts together.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the altar with .the side walls extendedin supporting position,

showing the table and retable in collapsed position.

Figure. 4 is a perspective view showing the table being lowered intoassembled position, with the retable partially assembled.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the altar showing it inycollapsed condition.

. Figured. is an end view of the altar in collapsed condition. l

Figure? is a plan view of the altar with the 0 table removed and onecorner of the front wall .cut away to show the arrangement andconstruction where the side wall joins the front.

,Figure 8 is a detail of the latch construction used to lock the partstogether in erected or col- 2 lapsed condition.

,The altar comprises generally a sheet metal construction, preferably oflight weight,.such as -aluminum,-having a front wall Ill, side walls orwings H, Ila, atable l2 and a retable generally :mindicated by I 3. Thefront wall is trimmed to give a panelled effect and is suitablyembellished by a centrally disposed, embossed panel I5 in which a cross[6 is removably mounted for op- ;tional substitution of a star of David,as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, or for the emblem of someotherrelig'ious faith or order.

The altaris of, pressed sheet metal construction throughout, the partsbeing welded wherever possible, and may be finished in any suitablemanner,

40 amahogany grained finish lending itself well to the structure forreligious purposes and being generally acceptable.

The front. wall Illhas its side edges bent into flanges 18 (only one ofwhich is shown, Figure 7), extending rearwardly at an angle ofsubstantially 90 and corner posts I9, I911. resembling side rails aresecured to these flanges by welding, riveting or otherwise. On its innerside wall, spaced from the edge thereof, each corner post supports anglemembers 20, 20a and the hinges 2|, 2la, respectively, for the side wallscarried by these angles as shown in Figure 7. The angles 20, 20a arespaced slightly from the edge of the corner post in order that the sidewall may be fitted into said more fully developed in the followingspecification s5 post to give said wall a panelled effect, its remain- 3ing edges and base being suitably trimmed to match the trim of the frontpanel, the trim being accomplished by pressing the metal as desired, orby assembling it in any other suitable manner known to those skilled inthe art.

The front wall is provided with a forwardly extending overhanging lip 22along its upper edge and the table 12 is hinged to this lip, whichextends forwardly a distance equal at least to the thickness of thetable, so that when theglatter is collapsed against the front wall, thetop surface I20, thereof will be substantially parallel to said wall.The table is hinged to this lip by hinges I, la.

The retable I3 is hinged to the opposite edge of said table at 23, 23aand comprises a front and rear section, l3a, I35, respectively,hingedlyconnected together at l3a and I3b, respectively, by a topsection I30. The three sections are rigidly joined together, whenerected, by end walls or flaps led and I3e which are hinged tmthe endsof the top section. Suitable toggle latches and hooks 25 are provided atthe adjoining edges of said sections and end walls so that they may besecurely fastened together when the retable is erected. Similar latchesare secured to the free ends of the side walls, and similar hooks areaffixed to the inner side of the front wall and to the underside of thetable so that said side walls may be securely latched parallel to saidfront wall when the altar is collapsed, and latched-to the-tablewhenreleased from the front wall as the altar is erected.

The side walls are additionallyv braced with respect to the front l andtable l2 by pins or dowels 28, 28a which project from-the upper surfacesof said side walls into sockets 29, 29a, respectively, formed in theunderside of the table to receive them when the altar is erected. Also,braces 30, 30a, suitably pivoted-to the-rear face of the front wall,engage the side walls adjacent their bottomedges when the altar iserected, these braces being held flush against the-inner face of thefront wall=by spring clips 31, 31a, respectively, when the altar iscollapsed.

The cross, star of'David, or other religious emblem may be provided withstud screws-26 on their rear faces and these screws extend throughcorresponding holes provided therefor in the face of'the embossed panell; Either emblem may thereupon be optionally secured in place bysuitable wing nuts 21 asocoasion demands.

When carried in the field, the altar isdismantled or collapsed as shownin Figure fi and is placed in a suitable canvas carrying case (notshown) by means of which it may be readily movedfrom placeto place byone-man. Touse it, the altar is raised into the position shown in Figure6, the side walls ll, Ila are swung outwardly as shown in Figure 7, andthe braces 3-1, tla are swung out from'thefront wall and securedthereto. The retable is next unlatched from the underside of table [2'and'swung upwardly as shown in Figure 4, at the same time swinging table12 about its hinges I, la. to bring it to rest on the side walls, withthe pins thereon engaging their corresponding sockets in the undersideof the table. The retable is then completely assembled as a ledge onsaid table and the parts thereof securely latched together. The altar isthen ready for the disposition of the religious paraphernalia and prayerbooks thereon. To dismantle and collapse the altar, the procedure justdescribed is reversed;

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent: is:

1. A portable, collapsible sheet metal altar comprising a front and sidewalls and a table therefore, said Walls and table being pivoted to saidfront so as to lie substantially parallel thereto when collapsed, andbeing swingable about their respective pivotal axes to assume side walland table; positions when erected for use, said, front and'saidtablehaving hooks secured thereto, and latches secured to said side walls,said latches engaging the hooks of said front wall when the structureis,collapsed-and'engaging the hooks of saidtable when the structure iserected, the parts thereby being locked against movement in eithercollapsed or erected position.

2. A portable, collapsible altar comprising a front having flanged, sideedges, apost adjacent each of said edges, each post having parallelflanges, the innermost flange of each being secured to the respectiveadjacent flange of said front, the outermost flange of each post beingofgreater width than the innermost flange and having an anglemember-secured thereto spaced from the free edge thereof, a side Wallfor said altalchinged to each angle iron, each wall overlapping therespective adjacent outermost flange soas to present an unbroken surfacewhen the altar is erected, said front having a lip overhanging. itsupper edge and a. table pivoted-to saidlip, and; resting on-said frontand side walls when thealtar is erected ,fOr worship.

EMANUEL I. COHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references'are of record inthe file of;this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date.

188,415 Rosenthal Mar. 13,1877 242,355 Nicholas May 31, 1881 835,902Damato, Nov. 13, 1906 1,001,383 Geer Aug. 22, 1911 1,099,980, HooeyJune16, 1914 1,411,765. Worthington Apr. 4, 1922 1,514,055 Lawson Nov.4, 1924 1,608,457 Anson u" .Nov.. 23, 1926 2,153,538 Innis Apr. 11, 19392,291,888 Ericksen, Aug. v4, 1942 2,411,620 English Nov. 26, 1946

